There are many situations when it is desirable for a person to maintain a particular head position when attempting to make contact with an object. Maintaining a desirable head position increases visual contact with an object and, therefore, increases a person's overall performance when participating in a sporting activity. For example, it is well recognized in the game of baseball that it is very important for the player to make eye contact with a ball from the time the ball is thrown by the pitcher to the time the ball reaches the zone or area where the batter swings to hit the ball. A baseball player can experience great difficulty in hitting a ball, especially when the player's head is moved to an undesirable position where the player's head faces away from the contact point. As a consequence of the undesirable head position, the player many times is unable to make proper visual contact and, therefore, engage the ball during the swing.
A prior art device, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,765 of Stringham, discloses a batting aide comprising a shoulder piece and a jaw piece. These two pieces are inter-connected and located between the batter's chin and shoulder. The relative pressure exerted by the device during a swing by the batter indicates whether or not the batter's head and shoulder are in the proper position. Another prior art patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,065 of Socci, discloses another prior art training device for hitting a baseball. The device comprises a shoulder harness with a chin holder connected thereto. This device also connects a player's chin and shoulder and causes the player's head to move from the front shoulder to the back shoulder during the course of the swing.
These prior art devices suffer from various deficiencies and inadequacies that are not present in this invention. For example, the devices in both Stringham and Socci connect the head to the shoulders or upper torso and do not hold the head in the best ball striking position. In this regard, the head should rotate relative to the shoulders during the swing to attain the proper ball striking position. However, the devices disclosed in both Stringham and Socci impede this type of motion. In addition, the aforementioned devices do not prevent the player from the undesirable head movement associated with pulling up and/or pulling backwards during the swing.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for a simple and inexpensive device that aids substantially in overcoming the above mentioned deficiencies to achieve the desired result.